Upper Limb Blood Flow Restriction in Handball Players

NCT06423196 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: Floss-Hand
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 22
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Introduction. Blood flow restriction therapy involves the use of an occlusion cuff placed over an extremity resulting in a partial reduction of arterial blood flow and total restriction of venous return. Objectives. To analyse the efficacy of a physiotherapy intervention using blood flow restriction in improving upper limb strength in adult handball players. Methods. Randomised, single-blind, clinical study. 20 athletes will be recruited and randomly assigned to the experimental and control groups. The intervention of the experimental group will consist of performing an exercise protocol after blood flow restriction. The intervention period will last 4 weeks, with a periodicity of 2 weekly sessions of 30 minutes each. The primary variable will be the strength of the triceps, epicondyle and epitrochlear musculature (pressure hand dynamometer). The secondary variable will be the muscle activation of this musculature (surface electromyography).

Conditions

Sports Physical Therapy

Keywords

Handball; Blood flow restriction; Muscle strength; Muscle activation; Upper limbs; Physiotherapy

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Assess the muscle strength at screening visit

  Muscle strength will be assessed with a pressure dynamometer (Lafayette Manual Muscle model). The strength of the triceps brachii, epicondyle and epitrochlear musculature will be measured. The evaluation protocol used by Morin et al. will be used. The unit of measurement is the Newton (the higher the value, the greater the muscle strength). The measurements are taken bilaterally. The mean value of the 2 measurements taken shall be used as a measure.

  Screening visit, within the first seven days after treatment and after four weeks follow-up

Secondary Outcomes (1)

• Assess the muscle activation at screening visit

  Screening visit, within the first seven days after treatment and after four weeks follow-up

Study Arms (2)

Experimental group

EXPERIMENTAL

The intervention of the experimental group will consist of performing an exercise protocol after carrying out the blood flow restriction. A total of 6 muscle strength exercises will be performed for the proximal (triceps brachii) and forearm (epitrochlear and epicondylar muscles).

Other: Experimental group

Control group

NO INTERVENTION

Patients included in the control group will continue with their pre-study training and activities, without modifying their routine.

Interventions

Experimental group OTHER

In the development of the exercises, the players will mobilise dumbbells of different weights that will be estimated according to the calculation of 30% of 1 RM. This workload with dumbbells is based on previous work where blood flow restriction was used in healthy athletes.

Experimental group

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years - 30 Years
• Sex: male
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64)

You may qualify if:

• Athletes over 18 years of age.
• Federated in handball at the time of the study.
• No lower limb injuries in the three months prior to the study.
• Signing the informed consent document.

You may not qualify if:

• Athletes who have undergone surgery in the year prior to the study.
• People who do not attend at least 80% of the treatment sessions.
• Players who are receiving physiotherapy treatment in parallel to the physical preparation of the team they are playing for.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Universidad Católica San Antonio de Murcia: lead

Study Sites (1)

Universidad Católica San Antonio, Murcia

Murcia, 30107, Spain

Location

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: SINGLE
• Who Masked: OUTCOMES ASSESSOR
• Masking Details: Three assessments will be made throughout the study: before the intervention (T0), after the experimental phase (T1) and after a 4-week follow-up period (T2). All variables will be assessed by an evaluator blinded to the assignment of the athletes to the study groups.
• Purpose: PREVENTION
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Principal Investigator

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: May 15, 2024
• First Posted: May 21, 2024
• Study Start: May 19, 2024
• Primary Completion: June 15, 2024
• Study Completion: July 1, 2024
• Last Updated: March 25, 2025

Record last verified: 2024-05

Locations

ES (1)